Impact of Climate Change on Streamflow in the Middle–Upper Reaches of the Weihe River Basin, China
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 6
Abstract
This study calibrated and downscaled data from four scenarios in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) to drive the distributed hydrological model soil and water assessment tool (SWAT). Hereafter, this study systematically quantified the changes in streamflow under future climatic conditions in the middle-upper reaches of the Weihe River Basin. The results show that, compared with the base period (1991–2000), the low-emission SSP1-2.6 scenarios resulted in future streamflow reductions to values less than those recorded in the baseline period. Furthermore, the same is true for medium and high-emission SSP3-7.0 scenarios. Under the SSP1-2.6 emission scenarios, streamflow in the 2030s, 2040s, 2050s and 2060s will be reduced by 40%, 50%, 31%, and 38%, respectively. Under the SSP3-7.0 emission 12 scenarios, streamflow will decrease by 44%, 20%, 34%, and 7% in the 2023s, 2040s, 2050s and 2060s, separately. These results supply support for water resource management and water use in the Kuan-chung Plain in the future climate change.
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Data Availability Statement
The data, models, or code that support the study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work is partly supported by the Shaanxi Province Key R&D Program (Grant No. 2021SF-484), the Science and Technology Project of PowerChina Northwest Survey and Design Research Institute Co., Ltd. (Grant No. KJ-WW-2019-06), the Sino-German Mobility Programme (Grant No. M-0427).
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Received: May 19, 2022
Accepted: Dec 13, 2022
Published online: Mar 23, 2023
Published in print: Jun 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Aug 23, 2023
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